Chapter 18: Mutation
The truck slowly drove along the country road.
Li Tianran looked at the withered vegetation on both sides of the road. On the fifth day after the radiation, the toxins hidden in the plants had completely erupted. Looking ahead, the fields on both sides of the road were filled with a dull yellow, lifeless color.
"Boss Xiao Li, is it safe to leave Hanhan alone at home? The world is in chaos now, and I'm afraid that if someone targets the farm, it would be dangerous for Hanhan," Xiaotian, sitting in the passenger seat, expressed his concerns. "Boss Xiao Li, didn't you leave any self-defense tools for Hanhan?"
Li Tianran smiled.
Dangerous?
Now, there is no safer place in the entire South City than the farm!
If someone forcefully invaded the farm to attack Hanhan, the armed forces they possessed would probably be enough to break through the defenses of the South City Armed Police Brigade!
However, Li Tianran couldn't tell Xiaotian about this. He just smiled and said, "There's nothing valuable in my rundown farm. Who would be interested? Besides, Hanhan is only seven years old. Even if she had self-defense weapons, she wouldn't know how to use them! And... with Xia Hei in the farm, no one can break in. Don't worry!"
"Hehe... then I can rest assured." Xiaotian smiled and nodded, then lowered his head and started sending text messages on his phone.
Li Tianran glanced curiously.
Xiaotian seemed to sense Li Tianran's gaze and casually stuffed the phone into his pocket, saying, "I'm afraid I won't have enough money, so I'll borrow some from a friend."
Li Tianran fell silent for a moment, then took out five one-hundred yuan bills from his wallet and handed them over. "I don't have much money left either. Take this."
Xiaotian looked at Li Tianran's action, seemingly extremely surprised. He hesitated for about seven or eight seconds before hurriedly waving his hand and said, "No, no, no! Boss Xiao Li, you've already helped my family a lot. How can I take your money?"
"Take it!" Li Tianran didn't wait for Xiaotian to refuse and directly handed the money to him.
Now, money was of no use to Li Tianran.
"This..." Xiaotian looked at the bills in his hand with a complex expression. After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and said, "Boss Xiao Li, I will definitely repay your kindness in the future!"
Li Tianran didn't say anything, he just reached out and patted Xiaotian's shoulder.
The country road was rough and difficult to traverse. Li Tianran drove the truck along the navigation route. At a junction, just as he was about to turn the steering wheel to enter the road indicated by the navigation, Xiaotian's face suddenly showed a resolute expression. He reached out and held the steering wheel, as if he had made a difficult decision, and said, "Boss Xiao Li, it seems that the road on the right is blocked. Let's go around from the left."
Li Tianran raised an eyebrow.
The road on the right was a major thoroughfare in the town. Normally, unless there was a major natural disaster like an earthquake or a mudslide, it would not be closed. So why did Xiaotian say it was blocked?
Li Tianran's gaze fell on Xiaotian's face.
At some point, Xiaotian's complexion had turned pale, completely devoid of any color.
In such cold weather, fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead!
At first glance, it looked like he had contracted some kind of acute illness!
Li Tianran was taken aback and immediately sensed that something was wrong. He asked in a deep voice, "Xiaotian! I often take that road, and I haven't received any notice of its closure. How did you know? What's wrong with you?"
"It... a friend told me..." Xiaotian stammered.
"Which friend?" Li Tianran slammed on the brakes. He sensed that something seemed eerie about this situation and tightly grabbed Xiaotian's wrist, asking coldly, "Call him, and let me listen!"
"Boss Xiao Li, stop asking! I won't harm you!" Xiaotian heard the words, and his expression seemed to make a certain decision. Even his voice became urgent, with a hint of pleading. He pointed at the left fork and said, "Boss Xiao Li, turn now, it's almost too late!"
"... " Li Tianran stared at Xiaotian with an intense gaze, seemingly trying to find a loophole in his eyes, but unfortunately, he failed.
"Swish!" Li Tianran turned around and directly turned the steering wheel, rushing towards the left fork!
At the same time...
Three hundred meters away from the junction, on the main road of the town, a Mercedes-Benz SUV came to a halt.
A cold and stern man in a black suit sat in the passenger seat. Inside the car, there were three men dressed similarly to him, tall and muscular, exuding a fierce aura.
The man in the black suit held a tablet in his hand, and on the screen, there was a red dot gradually approaching their location.
Suddenly, the red dot paused for a moment, and then quickly deviated from its original trajectory, heading towards another fork in the road where they were destined not to meet!
"The fuck! Something's wrong!" The cold and stern man cursed, "This bastard dares to go back on his word!"
Clatter!
The faces of the other three men changed in unison. Amidst their angry curses, they revealed the gleaming daggers at their waists!
"Hmph, luckily, I was prepared!" The cold and stern man emotionlessly adjusted his earpiece and spoke sharply, "The target is heading your way. Remember, you must intercept them! Mr. Liang said they must survive!"
Soon, a voice came through the earpiece, "Understood!"
Snap!
The cold and stern man removed his earpiece and then turned to the man sitting in the driver's seat, saying, "Turn around and intercept them! Coordinate with Team 2 to surround them from the front and back. I want to see if they can fly away with wings today!"
...
Buzz!
The engine of the 1.4-liter truck roared under the heavy load. Li Tianran almost pressed the accelerator to the floor, and the tires generated thick smoke as they fiercely rubbed against the ground, drifting in through the window.
"What the hell is going on? Tell me!" Li Tianran's face darkened. He turned his head to look in the rearview mirror and suddenly noticed that a Mercedes-Benz SUV, less than three hundred meters behind the truck, was chasing after them like an untamed wild horse!
He was furious at this moment.
He seemed to have inexplicably fallen into a vortex, inexplicably being targeted by someone!
Who were they?
Military police?
No! Impossible!
If it were the military police, they wouldn't resort to this method. They could directly use proper channels to take Li Tianran away from the farm.
Was it a friend of Sun Dayou and Zhong Ling?
Equally unlikely. Sun Dayou was only a deputy manager of a small company, earning at most a few hundred thousand yuan a year.
And the price of the Mercedes-Benz SUV closely chasing them from behind right now would be at least three million yuan or more.
If Sun Dayou really had friends with such financial strength, why would they focus their attention on his farm?
"Boss Xiao Li, I... I'm sorry! I betrayed you! There are surveillance cameras near my house. I checked the footage and found out that you saved me that night! I was confused by my own desires, and I heard that Tianrun Pharmaceutical Company has been searching for a cure for acute poisoning. So, I approached them..." Xiaotian was convulsing all over now, crying, "I had no choice. I had no money, no food. If I continued like that, I would starve to death. I did it for my survival! They promised to give me a large sum of money..."
"... " Li Tianran's temple throbbed, and he was furious, but now was not the time to get angry. He asked, "What is their plan?"
"They told me to lure you out of the farm," Xiaotian trembled, "They know you have the medicine to treat poisoning, so they want to take Hanhan when you're away and force you to comply!"
Li Tianran froze for a moment, his face turning dark and terrifying. He turned to Xiaotian and said, "So... those questions you asked me just now, were you testing me? Were you informing them about the farm's defenses while playing with your phone?"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Xiaotian helplessly covered his face and cried.
"Fuck!" Li Tianran squeezed out a furious curse from between his teeth, "If anything happens to Hanhan, I'll make sure that every one of you is buried with her!"